And so…without further interruption…and remember people, this is not factual or scientifically based so please spare me the emails about “that’s not #3 on the list!”…this is my opinion and this is supposed to be fun and make you go “hmmmm”

The Third Greatest Invention for the Autism World…the exercise video!

Yep…you thought I was going to say some heavy blanket or noise maker or spinning something didn’t you…NOPE…it’s the exercise video.

I guess it’s not called a video anymore these days but I’m a Gen-Xer and back in my day it was video so that’s what it’ll be.

Here’s why the Exercise Video is #3…because my 6-year-old son with Autism loves P90X and Insanity and if he likes it then it’s high on the list.

About 9 months ago I decided to start waking up early and doing the P90X workout at home…so I’d quietly get up and put in Tony Horton and start jumping and stretching and all this fun stuff.

Eventually my kids realized that I was up early and if they were quiet and not in my way they’d be allowed to get out of bed early. And so it came to be that my son started liking Tony Horton and P90X…not so much for the exercise but because it was routine…if you’ve never seen the videos they have about 13 of them and they’re all similar in that on the screen it will show the name of the exercise and will have a running timeclock and then Tony is one of those semi-annoying types that I find quiet enjoyable, but many just want to shut him up…he’s goofy and says funny things that just stick in your brain all day long…no really, ALL DAY LONG!

But it was good for my son because he would get up close to the screen and start calling out the letters of the exercise word he’d see on the screen…

he’d say, “M-A-S-O-N…T-W-I-S-T…what spell, what spell, what spell?”

it was a lot of fun hearing him call (or yell) out the letters and I didn’t mind because he was using his words and his brain.

Tony also has these sayings like “Bring It!” and “Do your best…forget the rest” and they’re catchy so I’d tell him and my daughter to “bring it” and he’d give me a high-five and say “bring it”

If you’re reading this and you don’t have a child on the Spectrum then you have no idea how great this type of interaction is…might seem small but in my world it’s HUGE! To get him to engage and respond…I love it.

P90X is a 90-day routine and I just kept on doing it for about 120-150 days…so we all were very familiar with the routines and the words and phrases. After P90X I did Insanity with Shaun T. which is similar but more core work.

Again…Shaun T. is one who has a lot of sayings and so my son would learn those as well. Then he would start doing drills like Mummy Kicks or other exercises and it was fun because I could tell that he wanted to mimic what I was doing and be a part of it.

So there it is…the #3 most important invention for the autism world…not what you’d expect but that these workout videos (dvds) allowed me to share fun moments and interactions with my son and that he would work on calling letters and remembering phrases (even if he didn’t know what they meant)…well worth the sweat and pain!

Thanks Tony Horton and P90X and Shaun T. and Insanity…not only am I getting in great shape but I’m spending time with my son and that’s what’s most important!